Alliance Gets Ink Despite Critics

Bowl alliance coordinator Roy Kramer said Sunday that a little controversy is good for college football.

Shoot, look what it has done for boxing.

You sense now the alliance’s chaotic six-year run might have been simply part of a deeper plot to keep its shenanigans in the headlines.

What possible firestorm could be ignited with a sensible, 16-school playoff format that actually crowned a champion on the field?

Who would write letters to the editor about that?

Next year, the bowl alliance takes another baby step toward credibility. Next year, when the Rose Bowl comes aboard, No. 1 Michigan can play No. 2 Nebraska for the title.

But a non-playoff world will always be flawed at best. What happens if three teams finish unbeaten? Who gets snubbed then?

“There will always be a possibility that a team ranked third or fourth is going to be up there and considered in that area,” said Kramer, who also serves as Southeastern Conference commissioner. “And that discussion is not all bad, because I think it excites a lot of people about college football. The print media, a lot of you people write a lot of columns on that.”

Sunday’s bowl alliance selections produced no surprises. All the schools that were predicted to be snubbed--UCLA, North Carolina and Florida--were.

No. 2 Nebraska will play No. 3 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, No. 9 Ohio State meets No. 4 Florida State in the Sugar, and No. 10 Kansas State takes on No. 14 Syracuse in the Fiesta.

No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Florida and No. 7 North Carolina--victims of the vagaries of bowl life--were not invited to one of the three, $8-million alliance games.

Why No. 10 Kansas to the Fiesta Bowl instead of any of the above?

The bowl alliance, which began as the coalition after the 1992 season, has always preached it was formed only to try to match the No. 1 and No. 2 teams for the title and only to delay a selection process that had once allowed schools to book bowl gigs on Labor Day.

Beyond No. 1 vs. No. 2, other bowl matchups were to allow for preferences, geographical or otherwise.

Got it straight, UCLA?

Paul Hoolahan of the Sugar Bowl refers to his factors as the six Rs: record, rankings, ratings, revenue, reward and rematch.

He explained, in a tough call, that No. 9 Ohio State was a better at-large fit for his game than UCLA, North Carolina or Florida.

North Carolina also was hurt by the fact its coach, Mack Brown, just accepted the head position at Texas and might not be allowed to coach the Tar Heels in their bowl game.

“Yes,” Hoolahan said Sunday, “that entered into our decision-making.”

To which North Carolina players would no doubt respond: Thanks a lot, Mack.

The Fiesta Bowl’s John Junker cited geographical concerns. Forced by contract to take Big East champion Syracuse, he did not want another team from the East--so there went North Carolina’s and Florida’s hopes. Kansas State over UCLA was a matter of economics, the Wildcats guarantee a better live gate.

The alliance, of course, was doomed at birth when the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences did not join.

In six seasons, the coalition/alliance was able to match No. 1 versus No. 2 three times. The expanded bowl alliance, wrapping up its three-year run, yielded a single 1-2 matchup--Nebraska against Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl.

“The one thorn in our side was the chance you wouldn’t have the No. 1 team available, as is the case this year in the polls,” Orange Bowl Executive Director Keith Tribble said. “That will obviously be resolved in the coming years. No. 1 and No. 2 will play each other.”

Tribble is putting on his best face. Because No. 1 Michigan is playing in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, the Orange Bowl needs a Washington State upset to insure Nebraska-Tennessee will be for the national title Jan. 2.

That hasn’t stopped Tribble from kicking off a spin campaign that postulates that 13-0 Nebraska, assuming a win over Tennessee, should claim at least a share of the national title no matter what happens to Michigan.

There is no data supporting his premise. Michigan maintained 69 of 70 possible first-place votes in Sunday’s Associated Press poll. Nebraska picked up ground in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ rankings, but Michigan still holds a comfortable lead, 53.5 first-place votes to 8.5.

Tribble isn’t about to let it rest.

If boxing titles can be divided among alphabet soup organizations, why not college football titles?

“We are billing it as the alliance national championship, which is it,” he said of his Orange Bowl matchup. “Those teams are playing for the alliance championship. And I think, obviously, if Michigan loses, it becomes the national championship. And if they win, we’re hoping for the winner (Nebraska-Tennessee) to have a split.”

Wishful thinking.

It could have been a worse day for Tribble had Tennessee not barely--by one point--held its No. 3 position in the coaches’ poll over Florida State.

Had the Seminoles finished No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, the Orange Bowl would have had to choose between the schools.

“Fortunately, we didn’t have to make that decision,” Tribble said.

Tribble could still have taken Florida State No. 4 if he so chose, reprising Nebraska-Florida State epic Orange Bowls of 1993 and ’94.

But that would have risked handing the Sugar Bowl No. 3 Tennessee--and the possible national championship game.

“Our decision was based on making sure we had the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, because we felt that was our best chance of having a piece of the championship in some way or form,” Tribble said.

Was the entire day a wash?

Hardly.

Notre Dame, a scrappy up-and-coming program, accepted a bid to the Independence Bowl.